Working on my Fitness!

Ok so I've written about this topic before. I went back and looked; from what I can see I'm done two posts about getting fit. There's probably a couple more that I missed. So what's one more. This past summer I've really started to notice my weight creeping up. Seeing pictures that are not so flattering, getting out of breathe after just chasing my kid up the driveway. My excuse is usually something along the lines of, "It's fine I take care of kids all day, I don't need to work out. I'm chasing them." Confession; I'm not really chasing them. Often times I'm sitting on the couch watching them play. Then there's nap time. Nap time is my time and my time often includes watching TV with a snack or maybe a few snacks. It could be a box of candy or half a bag of my favorite pretzels. Yeah I know not the healthiest but whatever. Then there's Friday nights. We get snacks, candy, soda and pig out. Guys I'm not kidding, I could finish at least half a bag, if not more, of that cheesy popcorn. You know the Smartfood popcorn, and I'm talking about the big bag too; no snack packs over here. I'd honestly eat until I didn't feel well, and just sleep it off. I'd just buy a looser shirt to hide the rolls, and another pair of leggings because jeans just aren't comfortable anymore. I wouldn't say I wasn't happy; but I definitely wasn't comfortable in my own skin.

I don't own a scale. I'm not really sure why but I know I don't want to get obsessive about losing weight so I just don't have one or get down on myself for gaining. One pizza night I decided to get on the scale at my parents. I looked down to see 185. I really couldn't believe it. When I got pregnant with Penelope I was probably a little over 160 which isn't terrible. I'd say high school I was a solid 140 throughout which is great for my height and what not. I know I gained at least 40 pounds during pregnancy with Nella. Getting pregnant with Henry I'm not exactly sure how much I weighed when I started. I know I was heavier than 160 for sure, but I gained less with him, maybe around 30 pounds. I definitely got up to 200, maybe even a tad over that by the time I reached the end. Once I had him, having two kids I was just busy. The weight came off a bit with breastfeeding and running around; but there was no real plan. Penelope had just started school so I was having a hard time carving out time for myself, let alone time to work out. Now here are, Henry's two and I'm at my heaviest I've ever been.

One of my biggest problems was that I've always been skinny. I was the girl who could eat anything and really not gain weight. I wasn't working out, I didn't care. Because of that I really don't have the greatest eating habits, and slowly but surely the weight was creeping back on. Started in college with the good old freshman fifteen, which really didn't bother me. Unfortunately it just kept slowly creeping up. I'd work out here and there for a month or two but nothing ever stuck. Once I saw that number I'll be honest I was a little shocked, but it was a good shock. I knew I had to do something. I decided to get the MyFitnessPal app. It's a free app that helps you track your food. If anything I knew I needed to start paying attention to what I was eating. One of my biggest problems is I eat when I'm bored. I don't even have to be hungry. I've got nothing else to do, there's food in the house so why not have a snack. Keeping track of my food and only having a certain amount of calories I could eat really helped to keep me in check.

Once I started getting my eating under control, I started to walk. I would put the kids to bed and go for a walk. It was really awesome for me, very therapeutic. Sometimes I would pray while I was walking or mostly I would just enjoy the peace and quiet. Then I started running. I started off real slow at first but then it become a competition with myself. I wanted to see how far I could run, how fast I could run a mile. When I started exercising it really helped me get back on track. I started to really take better care of myself. I'll admit it, I had gotten really lazy. Running forced me to take a shower and wash my face because I really did smell. Ha! Next I got a bike! That was super exciting for me. It allowed me to still get some exercise in but in a way that was a little more mellow than running. My next purchase was a bike trailer that the kids could ride in. This was a game changer for me. I love it, I love that they can come with me for a bike ride. It's pretty awesome! I use an app called Endomondo to track my exercise. You can pick what you're doing (weather it's walking, running or biking and a lot of other stuff too); it'll track your distance, your speed, even how many calories you burn.

I recently sat down with my cousin Heather. She is a certified personal trainer and certified group instructor through NASM. She currently works at Fly to Fit, right on Central Ave in the Kohl's plaza. I wanted to pick her brain about anything health related really. I am not made of money. We are living pay check to pay check most weeks. I'm not about to spend my money on a gym membership or any of those nutrition shakes you see out there. I wanted her take on some of the fad diets you may have seen out there and what you really need to make the best out of what you're given.

For her day to day as far as food goes, she likes to eat every 3 hours. She doesn't count calories as far as a grand total but rather focuses on what she's eating at that moment. For example a snack for her, she likes to keep it around 350 calories. For example she'll eat a banana and a cliff bar. Eating every three hours keeps your metabolism moving. I asked her if she had any tips on eating better in general. Her biggest tip was don't over think it. Try to eat more fruits & veggies. Use spices over fats as far as flavoring your foods. Think of the foods you love & find ways to make them healthier. Is it really ok to have a cheat day? She says yes. Once a week a cheat day is ok, but don't let it ruin your week. Maybe have a cheat meal rather than a whole cheat day. Next up, eating out. I know when I go out my eyes go right to those lovely little calories next to whatever food you're looking at ordering. Some of those meals are a whole days worth of calories. It's really insane. Her advice; use it as a treat. Instead of having it take away from going out by focusing on what you're eating and how many calories there are look at it as a treat. At the end of the day it's better to make your food at home whenever you can, that way you're in control of what goes in your food.

Next I wanted to know what are the worst foods you can eat. She was very quick to say McDonalds, she also said fast food fries and anything deep fried. Not that we really want to hear that but we all knew it. Another thing was heavy desserts like cheesecakes and fudge. I really wanted to know her thoughts on the Keto diet or totally eliminating a food from your diet all together; like sugar. Heather said it's a good way to really dive into a healthier lifestyle. It shocks your system but it can be really hard to maintain if you try to keep it up for the long run. Let's be honest as a mom I'm not about to make separate dinners for myself and my family because I can't have carbs; but hey that's just me. Her advice was to start with fruits and veggies. Start with portioning; smaller portions with vegetables on the side.

A very important question for me was about snacks. I'm all about having a good snack; and a good snack that I can take with me is even better. Mom hack, eat your snack in the car and your kids can't have any. They won't even know you're eating one! Some of Heather's favorite go to snacks are trail mix, protein shakes, fruits, veggies, popcorn, cliff bars, granola (on its own or with maybe yogurt or eaten as cereal) or hard boiled eggs.

I also wanted to know how she stays motivated. She's been on this fitness/health journey for around 4 years and she just loves it, she really has a passion for it. You can tell it brings her such a joy. I wanted to know how she keeps going when maybe the weight isn't coming off, and how she gets inspiration. As far as motivation her advice was to take baby steps. Start paying attention to what you're eating, after about a month add in exercise. Start with maybe two days a week of exercise. Pro tip: you have to rest, take time off during the week. What does she do when the weight isn't coming off? Her advice was to switch it up. Do a different work out every day. Add in strengthening and conditioning to go with your regular cardio; like walking or running. If the weight isn't coming off go back to the basics. Start walking again, take a couple days off; try mediating, take the pressure off. As far as inspiration goes she turns to social media. Following different people who have different bodies along with different stories.

She wants people to have fun with fitness. It doesn't have to be daunting. If you have kids get them involved too. There are so many mommy and me classes out there now. I wanted to know some ideas for people like me who are on a budget. Like I said before I'm not looking to spend my hard earned money on a gym membership. As for those people who say well you spend $4 a day on coffee, so you can get these shakes instead; I don't drink coffee so next! Heather says to start walking or doing a light jog. What about people who don't have a treadmill and can't get outside? She suggests starting with stretching; you'll be getting your muscles moving. You can also look to social media for work out ideas along with Pinterest too.

You definitely have to be ready. You have to be ready to commit. When you want to lose weight you should look at it as a lifestyle change. Diets don't work. You cut stuff out and the weight comes off but when you try to incorporate these things back in again you gain that weight back. It can be a vicious cycle. I started a couple months back with Heather, probably around January maybe. She would send me work outs to complete at home, no equipment necessary. Once a week she would also come to my house to do a work out with me. I was seeing some results but really wasn't fully committed. My eating habits still weren't great and I gave up. I wasn't about to keep spending money when I wasn't super into it. Nothing against Heather, she actually got me to enjoy it. She would be so excited for me that I would start to get excited. Around father's day is when I really decided to get serious. I started to pay attention to what I was eating and started just getting out there and moving. Since then I've lost 27 pounds. It may not seem like a lot to some but I'm really proud of myself.

The left is at the Father's Day car show in late June and the right is the beginning of September!

Special shout out to Heather for taking the time out to come over and chat with me about all this fitness stuff. Not only does she work at Fly to Fitness but she's also a director at a daycare center, needless to say she's a busy lady! It was really eye opening for me. The next phase that I'll be working on will be toning. Focus will be on my stomach mainly. On to the next! What are some things you guys are doing to work on becoming your best you?

Heather has also offered a little promotion for my readers! If you go to their website, find a class that you love then book it with Heather. You proceed to the payment and that's where you'll see the flash sale. you can get 2 classes for just $30! One class is usually $22, so that's a steal!

Traveling with kids

Coming home from Connecticut this past weekend, got me thinking about traveling. When you think of road trip you may be thinking care free, fun, and adventurous. Being a mom a road trip can be a little intimidating. Me personally, my mind goes to all that could go wrong. I mean let's be real, a lot can go wrong besides your kids just being miserable. I pushed those thoughts to the side and decided I wanted to take my kids to Ohio. Yes Ohio, yes we were looking at a nine hour drive. Why Ohio? Well my beautiful cousin, Penelope's god-mother lives there. She moved there for work and the last time we saw her was when she came home for a baby shower in April. I decided on July because I knew she'd be home in the beginning of September for our family's annual Pig Roast.

I am incredibly blessed to have such a support system that surrounds us. I knew that Scottie would probably not be able to get the time off, my sister just had a baby, my other sister has a family of her own to take care, my mom and dad work as well. So I turned to the next best thing, one of my favorite cousins. My girl Heather! Not only do we get along well but she works at a daycare so she knows how to take care of a kid. It doesn't hurt that Amanda is her sister, I knew she wouldn't pass up a chance to see her! We decided to drive because it just made sense for us, and for Heather's work schedule. The train only went at night, and it doesn't drive directly into Columbus. We would have arrived around 3 am, I think, and would have had to drive another two hours to get into Columbus. Let's not forget having to bring two car seats, along with a stroller and pack n play; that doesn't even include our suitcase. Plane was out of the question simply because of cost. Driving my car was really the best option. It's a hybrid so the gas is awesome, and we could easily bring everything with needed for us and the kids.

Long story short our nine hour drive some how turned into a 14 hour trip. Yes you read that FOURTEEN freakin hours. I have no idea how or why but it happened. We started out with the GPS on my phone, and I'm pretty sure I hit something (either the "road with no tolls" button or didn't pay attention to all of the different routes that were available aka the fastest route) regardless we took a hit. My phone ended up dying pretty quickly so Heather took over the navigation. The plan was to leave as early as possible, drive until lunch. Stop for lunch, let the kids run around and get back on the road. Arrive to Amanda around dinner time and that'd be it.

Besides the kids being absolute angels I made a list of five things that helped to make our trip run a lot smoother.

Here's our main man up from his first nap. 

1. A portable DVD player. Ours is a hand me down from my dad and I am beyond thankful for it. It has saved my sanity more than once. And all you perfect parents out there who limit screen time or don't do it at all well kudos to you. I'm keeping the DVD player and singing along with Moana. Pro tip: to save my sanity I try to have Nella pick movies that I actually enjoy listening too. Before Henry she would wear headphones, but now that there's two we keep the headphones out.

These are some of our favorites. 

2.  Next would be what I like to call the "Fun Bag". I pack a backpack for each kid that has coloring books in it with their markers and a couple of their favorite books. Our favorite coloring books that I don't mind having in the car are the amazing color wonder books. You know with the "magic markers" that don't color on anything else but the "magic paper". It's a game changer. It allows the little guys, like Henry to be able to color just like big sister but without the mess. Also stickers. Give us all the stickers. Penelope is obsessed and will spend a huge chunk of time decorating her coloring pages with stickers.

*Since Ohio, and going on this road trip to Connecticut, I decided to go with just one bag for both the kids. Penelope is such a good helper and really doesn't mind handing things to Henry. I put the "Fun Bag" in front of her and she can just reach in to get what they need. As far as the coloring goes I decided to go with crayons for Henry this time around. As cool as the color wonder books and markers are Henry just likes to take the tops off. Last time we ended up losing half the tops, which leads to dried out markers and they aren't cheap. To avoid the loss of more markers the crayons won, but I did get the jumbo crayons so they're easier for him to hold.

3. Snacks. I mean really let's be honest, are you happy when you're hungry? I know I'm not. I pack as many snacks as I can into a lunch box, place it some where I can get to it and done. I try to pack easy snacks, try to avoid crumbs if I can and nothing that Henry can squeeze (because I'm not trying to get yogurt out of those damn car seat straps). Think fruit snacks, pretzels, teddy grahams, crasins, raisins, cheese sticks, obviously anything your kids love and that they can easily manage themselves. We have the added bonus of Penelope being able to open most snacks on her own, which means she can also give Henry his snacks too.

4. Lovey items. Anything that will help to keep your kids comfortable, maybe help them to fall asleep. One can only hope! For my kids this includes their blankets, and a favorite stuffed animal. I believe this trip Penelope decided on her newest bear Maya, and Henry brought his monkey Blue (no he's not blue). Henry also had his binky. Yes he still has a binky; I've given up on that battle for now.

5. Allowing for rest stops. Let's be real people need to pee. If I as adult need to take bathroom breaks then I know my four year old is going to need to pee and when she needs to go that leaves us time to change Henry's diaper. I keep a backpack full of diapers, wipes and the first aid kit where we can get to it quickly so we can move it right along.

Here's a fun story for you, Penelope needed to pee, like really bad. I kept telling her that if she couldn't wait until we got to a bathroom she would have to pee in the grass. She was not happy. We were literally so close to getting to an actual bathroom but she just could not wait. Literally screaming that she just had to go. We ended up pulling over on the side of the highway; Heather grabbed her as quick as she could out of her seat and Nella let it go.  Got it all over herself and Heather. We quickly wiped them both up, changed Nella's clothes and got back on the road. Hey if anything it makes for a good story. We're creating memories people!

My babies. 

I have to say we did really well, for being stuck in the car for 14 hours. My kids were amazing. Henry only had one small melt down. For the most part we stuck to the plan, we left a little before 8 in the morning and just drove. Henry fell asleep pretty quickly into the trip and Nella watched a movie. She took a break from the movies to color for awhile. We stopped at a park closest to where we were at the time. It just so happened the park that we chose to stop at was literally under water. Luckily there was a hill the kids could run up and down. We were all able to eat, stretch our legs and get back on the road. Both kids ended up falling asleep for a chunk of the second leg of our trip. We ended up getting to Amanda's a think around 9 o'clock! All in all we were happy to have finally made it to Ohio. It was a short trip but it was so much fun! And let the record show we were able to make it home on the correct route and it only took NINE hours! What are your favorite trips or trick you use to make road trips bearable for you and your kids?

So thankful for them!